I just found out that I will be in Gulf Shores the first week in October. I’ll be bringing my 8wt and my Kayak (Native Ultimate 12) and was wondering if anyone could clue me in on the bay fishing in the area? I was looking on Yahoo maps and I see Oyster Bay, Little Lagoon, and the Bon Secour river. Anyone care to clue in a land locked boy from TN? I’d love to get into some trout and reds (of course). Looks like the condo I’ll be staying in is on East Beach Blvd between Shelby Lakes and Little Lagoon.
I believe that McCoy’s (I think that is the correct name) in Mobile has some fly fishing stuff and may be able to direct you. My limited fishing in the area was in Mobile Bay, I was not terribly impressed. It was a guided trip and with what I feel was a good guide in a so so fishery for a fly rod. I am in Northern Alabama and people for redfish fo to Louisiana or Florida.
Starfish, I went down to see my sister and her family back in May. I was told not to even bother bringing my fly rod because the intercoastal area, between the mainland and the barrier islands, is still full of debris (cars, appliances, houses, etc…) left over from Katrina. The shrimp boats can’t work it because their nets get shredded. Keep that in mind if you want to go after flounder etc…
Since you will be staying near Little Lagoon I would start there. There is a bridge on Beach Blvd where Little Lagoon is connected to the Gulf. That area is good on a moving tide. Fish the side the tide is flowing to, sort of like fishing a plunge pool on a stream. Fish the docks around the lagoon, especially at night or late evening for trout. Fish the beachs early and late for Ladyfish, I like the beach and jetty on the East side of Perdido Pass. At the jetty, fish the down side of the tide, it is very strong and large trout and redfish ambush bait fish, shrimp and crabs as they are swept across the jetty. There are a couple of spots in the public beach area that hold Ladyfish, bluefish, and maybe some pompano. Be very careful on the beach of curious onlookers, several time I have discovered people directly behind me about 30 feet watching me cast, of course I have been whizzing big Clousers over their heads. If you go to that area you can park either under the bridge or there is a public beach about 1/2 mile past the bridge.
Ladyfish are the perfect fish for flyfishing. They have a strong strike, can get you down to the backing very fast, and many times all you have to do is release pressure and give a little flick of the line and they can release themselves. They look like Tarpon, only 20 inches long.
There is a new Fly Shop at “The Wharf” I don’t remember the name but it is located in a house by the docks, they mey be able to give you some advice but they are VERY pricey.
Thanks for all the great info Duncan. Last year I was in Destin, and was fortunate to be taken out on a skiff at night with Capt. Paul Darby who put me on some ladyfish. I LOVE catching them!!! Actually on the TN river here, we have skipjack herring, which look a lot like a ladyfish - we call them Tennessee Tarpon. They grow to about 20" but average 15" here. They fight hard, but nothing like a ladyfish.
Thanks for the heads up on watching my back cast - I ran into that in Destin last year as well.
Have you fished the waterway that connects Little Lagoon with Shelby Lakes in the State Park? I was looking at the satellite image and it looks to be perfect for a Kayak and impassible by large shipping traffic.
Have you fished the waterway that connects Little Lagoon with Shelby Lakes in the State Park? I was looking at the satellite image and it looks to be perfect for a Kayak and impassible by large shipping traffic.
Jeff[/quote]
No, I actually do all of my Kayak fishing in Fla at “Big Lagoon” in the grass flats although my place is just west of Shelby lake. I started fishing that area because I was told a couple of years ago that was my best chance at catching trout and redfish. I have always returned there just because I like the area. It is a Federal park so is secure, I already have a Fla. license, and I buy an annual pass to the park. I keep saying I am going to try Little lagoon and Lake Shelby, but I keep returning to the familar.
There is a weir dam bridge where the hwy goes through the park that seperates Lake Shelby from the wetland area of Little Lagoon… I see lots of folks fishing in the upstream side of the bridge so that might be a good place to put in and paddle to Lake Shelby. There are two more ponds above Lake Shelby but they are not easily accesible by road. All of the channels in that area look very fishy, I have just never fished them. If you try them, let me know how they are, I suspect they will be good.
There is another place I have heard a lot about that has lots of big reds. It’s name is Dixie Bar and it is all the way at the end of Fort Morgan rd past the old fort. I don’t know the exact loation or any more about it, except it has a great reputation.
BTW, a couple of months ago I ran into Jim Meador, the Native Kayak rep and the guy you see in the ads standing in the boat with a fly rod, and the owner of Native and its parent company, whose name I can’t remember, in big Lagoon testing kayaks and other boats. Mr Meador lives in Point Clear, AL.
I have playing around with buying one of those Native 12 or 14’ canoes for flyfishing and exploring. I’ve got a local dealer about 100 miles away. How do they work for you for flyfishing? I’ve heard they are very stable but I have no first hand experience. I’m thinking the 14’ would be more appropriate for 2 svelte adults and perhaps a small child or even usable for 1 adult what do you think? I see generic canoes at Sams Club but they look to weigh a lot. Thanks,
Racine
Fantastic boat. VERY stable. I stand to sight fish in mine all the time. It’s a little wobbly at first, but once you get your legs, it’s super easy to cast standing.
The 14 footer can be converted between a single and a tandem. If I were doing it over again, that would be the one I would get.
Starfish, I appreciate the input and you’ve swayed me towards the 14’. These look a lot lighter than other canoes I’ve seen and I hear they even make one in Carbon Fiber. Though tempting I’m not sure how fragile they’d be. Thanks Much.
Racine
BTW, have fun and how you net quite a few.
starfish,
i used to live in spanish fort al, which is just north of i10 at mobile bay. in the spring time i would fish dauphin island, and in the fall i would fish west pass. west pass is the outlet to the gulf for little lagoon. if i was you i would fish the lagoon at night under the dock lights. try a chartruse clouser, you should be able to get specks and reds.
at first light, or at dusk i would fish the pass, especially if you can get an outgoing tide. you should encounter, specks, reds, spanish ,bluefish, ladyfish(skipjack) and hardtail. all of which will be a ball on a fly rod. for flies i would use surf candy. it does a great job of imitating the small baisfish that are present in that area at this time of year.
crowds should not be a problem, most of the tourists have left by october. the only conflict would be the occasional surfer, or the shrimp festival. the shrimp festival is a big arts and crafts fair that happens in the begining of october in orange beach. it jams up the traffic at the end of route 59, but should not affect the fishing.
walk the beach early and late , and you should see large schools of bait being chased and devoured.
a good local website would be www.gcomag.com. they have a message board and should be able to give you some help.
I was talking to my sister, a nurse in Pascagoula, MS. She said that there are some very bad bacteria in the coastal waters between the barrier islands and the mainland up and down the coast now. It is mainly a lingering result of Hurricane Katrina. There have been some fatalities from infections that entered through open sores. There is an on-going monitoring effort for bacteria. Areas are often closed for having pathogen counts that are too high. PLEASE FOLLOW THESE WARNINGS !!! People are still dying from the after effects of Katrina.
She also suggested not eating crustasceans or flatfish taken near the mainland shore.
Well, I didn’t catch much, but I had a blast. West Pass was sealed off, so there was no tide. A local said it was the first time in 6 years that enough sand washed in to close the pass. They had heavy equipment out all week working on getting it open again. I caught one nice speck one night there, and that was it.
I also hit Perdido pass and fished the grass flats between the islands there. That was super fun - wish I had spent more time there. I caught a few little tiny guys - looked like pinfish, one flounder, and a small grouper - 2 or 3 pounds probably. Lots of fish activity though - I just couldn’t get them to chase my flies. No reds whatsoever. Saw one other fly fisherman there - he was on a wave runner and waded the flats.
My Ultimate 12 was perfect. I was able to stand and cast in it with complete confidence.
The last morning I was there, I decided to put in at cotton Bayou. What a waste of time. I spent two hours pounding docks and never had hardly a look.
